If a pilot wants to fly very fly close to himself, he should be allowed to; so long as he is putting nobody in immediate danger other than himself.

That's not practical for even feasible for liability reasons. When that pilot injuries himself (and hopefully no one else) it's still going to ruin everyone else's day, especially if this occurs at a fun-fly. Additionally, it's not going eliminate his ability to try and sue the club, property owner, or anyone else.

Another thing I have seen recently is several helis that come preassembled and the owner/builder did not take it completely apart and check the loctite. I have seen three helis lately that have not been thoroughly checked/built.

I sure wouldn't want one of these coming too close to me or even far away from me. These types of operators and builders are an accident waiting to happen.

I think it's only a matter of time when there is going to be a bad one and then the rules will come down hard.

Jeff

To hover is divine, the alternative is rather PLANE.

By the way...The club that hosted the HF fun fly is never allowing them back again.
Good to see everyone plays by the rules.

I must of missed this, what happened?

Don't know any details other than a few guys that dismissed the rules got the entire event banned from the field.

They're looking for another field now.

The incident had nothing to do with the flying by the way and took place after the flying was finished.

I know nothing further about it.

I did not mean to imply the flying was the issue.

There are two types of people in the world..#1.People who can extrapolate iinformation from context

Yup, a small number of bad apples always end up ruining it for everyone.

However, pilots should be allowed to fly as they wish provided they are not flying behind the flight line or over peoples heads. If a pilot wants to fly very fly close to himself, he should be allowed to; so long as he is putting nobody in immediate danger other than himself.

So, if a pilot takes himself out with his heli, Thats OK? What about the kids and adults that may be witnessing the incident. Not sure I would want that image on my mind!

"Gotta Luv It". "HeliHobby Online Rep"

PJ, I wasn't aiming my comment at you. I quoted what you said but didn't attribute it to you. Just because we assume some risk when we go to the flying field does not mean I want to assume unnecessary risk. Like I said, if I go to a field or an event and the activity gets too risky to suit me, I leave or at least get far away. I drive an APBA inboard hydroplane. I'm not afraid of risk. I don't like risk that is entirely out of my hands and some of this stuff has become too risky for my taste and I do stay away from it. Heck, even at IRCHA a couple years ago I was sitting in the bleachers right before the Bergen turbine crashed short of them and he wasn't even doing anything crazy. Stuff happens and when we cut the margin for error so close, it's going to happen. All that needs to be done is for everyone to be diligent and for some to dial it back a little.

Marty Hammersmith
Nauti-Buoy Racing Y-4

imagine this is a heli instead, and doesn't miraculously miss, it's the young person, child, or mom or dad you should think about.

Watch at YouTube

Make that a 40ft high safety net behind the flyer

They should have a 15,000 foot net at full scale airshows, lol.

We need the world's largest Foo shield. So large and thick that it risks crushing everyone if it falls over.

I don't think so...

I feel safer standing next to Pro pilots which I have many times vs someone new to the hobby..

That is a false sense of security in my opinion. Most of the time not because of equipment failure but of the pilot's desire to push beyond the limits to get that flying "high". Many times I've seen them hit the tail rotor in the ground and lose control, some crash behind the flight line in the pitts while others throw parts in different directions. Last year at IRCHA I saw one of the spotters get hit in the leg.

I know they enjoy being on the edge but I beg to differ that standing next to a pro pilot is safer. I fear its actually more dangerous than someone who is not doing crazy stuff right on the deck in front of themselves.

-=>Raja.

1005-G G26 3D Max, 3356 flts
Spectra-G G270 3D Max, 2228 flts
Whiplash-G G270 3D Max, 322 flts

Are you kidding,ive seen more new people crash into the pits in 1 year than I seen good pilots crash...I NEVER turn my back when someone new is flying...

No not kidding

Believe it or not, all the crazy crashes I've seen at funflys are from pro pilots - tail rotor hitting the ground and losing control is a popular cause, others are too low or misjudgement of flags or getting disoriented on top of their heads and having it go behind them and hit a golf cart or something of that nature.

As far as beginners, usually if you think back when you were learning new pilots are a bit scared or embarassed or nervous to fly when someone is watching or at events. Can't you remember that?

-=>Raja.

1005-G G26 3D Max, 3356 flts
Spectra-G G270 3D Max, 2228 flts
Whiplash-G G270 3D Max, 322 flts

That vid was funny vs ircha. At ircha a crash barely got any attention, at that event it looked like everyone stopped what they were doing and came over to see.

And crashes are more likely to hit the crowd with planes than helis. Plane pilots can be completely incompetent and keep it in the air for the most part- until they aim it at someone and freeze.

And I am that nervous to fly in front of a crowd guy, I stuck to the far right side away from the pros. And I fly far away, unfortunately nomatter what size heli I fly its the same size. I just fly the bigger ones further away.

Some peoples reasoning is relly pitiful- we need to regulate because if someone injures themselves it may ruin a spectators day??? Im not even getting into the mentality that thinks in this manner. I think you should sit at a stop sign tomorrow all day long because if you go away from the stop sign I may see you get into an accident and thatd ruin my day...
Or in context I dont want to see racecars drive unsafely when I go to the racetrack. because if the drivers get hurt itll ruin my day?
Now were safe
realistically for the plane comparison- assuming he didnt dumbthumb it, within less than a half second after the control inputs werent working id have hit th. The heli wouldnt be flying at the crowd and itd be ok.

Yep, our club is mostly airplane guys. The pit area is "Runway 3".

@Marty, me too! I spent many years playing with S class in the north east.

Some thoughts. The worst injury I've seen in person (and I've been to a lot of events) was a person that was well beyond what anyone would consider reasonable spectator separation distance, and a net would not have stopped it.

In all of the events I've covered, I was more in fear for my personal saftey at Top Gun than all the helicopter events I've attended combined.

@Raja, wasn't one of those demo crashes at Orlando last year you??

Andy
AMA 77227
http://www.jaxrc.com

Nope

@Raja, wasn't one of those demo crashes at Orlando last year you??

Actually if you said:

Raja, wasn't one of those demo crashes at Orlando last year NEAR you??

You would have been correct. We had 3 helicopters right in front of our tent and one of the pro pilots lost control of his ballistic and it came right past our tent and helis and right into the neighboring tent. The guy sitting in there was charging packs and he had to flip the table out towards the heli to stop it from hitting him.

-=>Raja.

1005-G G26 3D Max, 3356 flts
Spectra-G G270 3D Max, 2228 flts
Whiplash-G G270 3D Max, 322 flts

I want to add that my earlier comment on the HF fun fly may have been misunderstood by a few.

The incident that caused the event problems was not flying related but a handful of bad apples that caused some trouble AFTER the flying.

My point was only that there are irresponsible people at every event so a little extra caution wouldn't hurt anything.

No event can be made idiot proof but at least try to make it idiot resistant

If the pros want to fly the heli 5 feet from themselves...Keep spectators back 45 feet....That would keep the heli 50 feet from the crowd and that is plenty close enough to see everything.

50 feet is supposedly three mistakes after all.lol...

There are two types of people in the world..#1.People who can extrapolate iinformation from context

Rules are for idiots. Smart people stay back without having to be told. The ones who choose to be close either make a decision to be there or are just plain stupid. They deserve what they get with the risk. Problem with this country lately is that there are too many rules and laws and not enough natural and logical consequences. People don't learn from laws, they learn from experiences or witnessed consequence.

+1 for smaller government! Tis the election season.

Team HeliProz

If the pros want to fly the heli 5 feet from themselves...Keep spectators back 45 feet....That would keep the heli 50 feet from the crowd and that is plenty close enough to see everything.

That's still going to be a problem because when that individual hits them self their lawyer is still going to sue everyone they can.